1. Philly loves to build magic cities with her big sister Helen! Some of the imaginary places they invent include a butterfly museum, a sea of sweaters, and a neighborhood made of books. What are 3 imaginary places that you would put in your magic city?

2. At the beginning of the show, lots of things change for Philly. When Philly gets upset, she gets mad and turns into Philomenazilla. How does Lucas feel when this happens? What could Philly do instead of being mean? Have you ever gotten upset? What did you do to fix your heart?

3. Manual Cinema uses a lot of tricks from movies to tell our stories! Every scene in The Magic City is made of closeup shots, medium shots, and far shots. a. Can you find a closeup shot of Philomena or Lucas? What story is the shot telling? b. Find a far shot in The Magic City. What information do we get from being far away? c. Medium shots are great for showing characters together. Near the end of the show, Philomena and Helen talk about Lucas and Philly’s choices in a long medium shot. What advice does Helen give to Philly? What choice does Philly need to make? How does she make this big decision?

4. Lucas and Philly get to meet their heroes in the books in Brooklyn! Philly meets Amelia Earhart, and Lucas meets Langston Hughes. In the Brooklyn Cafe, all sorts of characters from books and history hang out together: Harry Potter, Frankenstein’s monster, Shakespeare. Pick 1 person from history and 1 character from a book who you would like to hang out with. What adventure would the three of you go on together?

5. At the Sea of Sweaters, Lucas meets a ship in a bottle. How is the ship feeling? Why? What does Lucas do to help?

6. In the Mountains of Junk, Lucas shares his locket with Philly. What does Philly learn about Lucas? How does Philly feel? How does Lucas feel?

7. Why does Philomenazilla show up in Philhelenia? What does Philly teach Philomenazilla?

8. How does Philly’s heart get put back together?

9. Mayor Hammer is building a wall out around The Magic City that keeps people apart. How do Philly and Lucas stop Mayor Hammer? What happens when the wall comes down?

Extra Credit
Philomena loves to build stuff out of junk around her house. All sorts of household objects can be used to make fantastical cities at home! We would love to see what you can build from stuff in your house! What kind of places are in your magic city? A museum? A school? A landing pad for UFOs!? Manual Cinema invites you to make your own magic city at home, and tell us about it! Send me a picture or a video of your magic city!